Cruel Tricks with the last of the KitKat Treats
by visbot
Summary: WENDELL! waxes over Ephram


Title: Cruel Tricks with the last of the Kit-Kat Treats Pairing: WENDELL, implied Ephram/Wendell and Ephram/Bright Raiting: PG-13 A/N: for 's Halloween Challenge I didn't really want to do it, but would have my head on a platter.. :)  
  
Seriously, thanks to all who participated, I'll make a master list in a couple of days!  
  
"Bye!"  
  
Slamming the door loudly, he replaced the locks on the door. Sighing heavily into the empty room, he walked slowly into the little cramped living room and plopped down on the old, yet surprisingly comfy couch.  
  
"Fucking kids."  
  
Sighing again, he placed the bowl of candy beside him and returned to watching TV.  
  
i". no TV and no Beer make Homer such and such..."/i  
  
Reaching over, he placed his hand in the bowl, searching for some good candy.  
  
i"Go crazy?"  
  
"Don't mind if I DO! ..."/i  
  
"Fuck "  
  
Turning away from the TV, Wendell grabbed the candy bowl and dug through it, searching for the elusive Kit-Kats. Wendell always told his Dad to buy more Kit-Kats, but he never did, he never remembered or cared. His mom always remembered and she always cared.  
  
It was just him and dad now. Well not even that. It was just more like him and TV. And this bowl of candy. Sighing again, he reluctantly unwrapped a Coffee Crisp and shoved the entire bar into his mouth.  
  
Daddy wasn't around anymore, not really. He came and went with his floozy of a girlfriend. Staying just long enough to yell and scream and tell him to make dinner. A dinner that rarely got eaten.  
  
Stupid Halloween. It was the best holiday of all, for the kids and the young at heart. When kids of all ages were suppose to have fun. It was a night to go out with your friends, go trick or treating, go to parties, go to have FUN.  
  
Not Wendell though. Like a reflection of his life, he was alone tonight, again. Stuck at home handing out candy to the happy bastards and their parents who find their kids oh so adorable in their fucking little costumes. Not that Wendell had a choice he had to stay in, he had nowhere else to go. Apparently Amy and Laynie were off to some séance and of course Gemma had her usual Halloween bash, where everyone was invited. Everyone but Wendell that is. Fuck, even Ephram was invited.  
  
Wendell felt the tears swelling up in his eyes as he thought about Ephram. His former 'best friend.' It was the first time he actually had a real friend, no one else from Everwood itself gave him the time of day. So he tried to strike up friendships with every new student that came along. And it never worked; they always rejected him as soon as they figured out what Wendell was: A loner. The loser. Popularity suicide. Except Ephram.  
  
Ephram liked him. reluctantly. It took time, but they were friends. They shared interests. Well not really. more like Wendell picked up on Ephram's. but that's what friends do right?  
  
And for the first time since his mom died, Wendell had a friend. Someone to hang out with at lunch, after school, go see movies with. It's been so long since he had one, he didn't remember what it was like. to be happy.  
  
For three glorious months he thought life was getting better again, worth living. He and Ephram. Best buds. Fuck the rest of the world. So what if they were sitting alone, so what if they were picked on? They had each other. And once, in a drunken stupor, they ihad/i each other. Ephram never mentioned it since, but Wendell knew Ephram enjoyed himself much more than he let on. But he couldn't risk it. He couldn't risk losing his friendship; so he left it behind him, played the loyal role of best friend, and listened to Ephram's Amy love woes. Which hurt him so much, to listen to Ephram talk about his dreams about the Abbot girl.  
  
But he didn't care. It hurt, but Ephram was his friend, and that eased all his pains. He kept on going, and things seemed almost easy again. Just like how other people can just crawl out of bed, without struggling, without the weight of the world on them, able to just be normal.  
  
And when Amy got Colin back, things seemed even better. Amy was taken out of the equation, and Ephram was Wendell's again. Well at least in a friend capacity. But of course that wasn't going to last.  
  
He still remembered that day in the lunch room. The day he made the choice that ended it all. He knew it was coming, despite all appearances to the contrary, Wendell wasn't stupid. He knew what was happening; he knew what was going to become of Ephram when he asked him for a Sidebar.  
  
His words still haunt him. Spoken as if under some other control. He knew it would end everything, but he said it anyways. He said it for Ephram. To make him happy, to give Ephram a chance he never had.  
  
i"The popular table is beckoning...... you can't say no, that's like saying no to free comics."/i  
  
And he was right. It was never the same after that. He'd been baptized by the golden boy himself. Thrust up into the popular crowd, leaving Wendell in the dust. Once again back on the sidelines Wendell watched the world pass around him. He watched Ephram and Colin's budding relationship intently. He saw the look in their eyes, in Ephram's eyes. The same stare he saw that one drunken night, and he knew.  
  
He knew that they were just more than friends. And his heart ached as he watched them together. Never overtly flaunting their love. But always standing just closer than most guys, and touching one too many times for 'accidental' contact.  
  
It hurt. It hurt so much. Ephram was happy, happy with Colin. Something that Wendell could never truly do for him. And it hurt him so god damn much. Like a searing pain inside his heart, crushing him with every beat.  
  
Time crawled to a stand still for Wendell. He stopped eating, stopped going to class, stopped doing what made Wendell, Wendell. But no one cared. No one noticed. Not even Ephram.  
  
After Colin died Ephram wasn't the same. A large part of Ephram's heart was ripped out, like Wendell's. He though they could share that. Share the pain of losing the one they loved. He went to the funeral, hoping to reconcile with Ephram. But Ephram went to Amy. Once again leaving Wendell in the dust.  
  
The summer was hard. Really hard. Watching Ephram self-destruct from afar, unwanted and unable to get any closer. To help him. He took all the rage, anger and sadness on himself. Often times cutting himself or worse, exchanging his heart pains for other physical ones.  
  
Wendell locked himself into his own little world again. Drinking and smoking. Avoiding the world around him. Hoping and praying that Ephram would find his own way, since it was apparent that Wendell couldn't help show him the way.  
  
Reluctantly he came out of hiding for school, stupidly optimistic that things would be different, that he and Ephram could be friends again. Going back to those three blissful months.  
  
Cruelly, his prayers were answered. Ephram did find a way back to happiness. And his name was Bright. He didn't know what happened between the enemies, but he knew they were together. The look in Ephram's eyes was unmistakable. The way he smiled, truly smiled, sent both warmth and pain into his heart. Happy that Ephram was happy. but pain because it was because of Bright. At least Colin was a good guy. Someone Wendell semi respected. But . Bright. He was Wendell's longest antagonist. The same Bright that striped him naked on a field trip. it just made the hurting that much more.  
  
iDING DONG/i  
  
Muttering to himself Wendell picked himself off the couch, wiping at his tears as much as possible and grabbing the stupid bowl of candy. His blood shot eyes would have made it obvious he was crying, but it didn't matter. He didn't fucking care. No one would notice, cause no one cared.  
  
He dropped the entire bowl when he opened the door and heard Bright and Ephram scream: "TRICK OR TREAT"  
  
In matching 1960's Batman and Robin costumes they both stood there, smiling with large pumpkin bags.  
  
"Oh sorry. You scared me." Wendell bit his lip as he collected the candy from the ground, trying his hardest not to break into tears.  
  
"Hey .ummm.." Bright scratched his head, literally as he stared into space. Ephram looked annoyed and rolled his eyes.  
  
"It's Wendell, Bright. and it's okay, I guess you weren't expecting us... Can we have Kit Kats?" Ephram flashed that winning smile, making it unbearable for Wendell to say no. Searching through his bowl and found the last two remaining of Wendell's own Kit Kats and placed it into their bags.  
  
Shutting his eyes tightly, stopping the flow of tears he looked up and asked them how their haul was.  
  
But it was too late. Both Ephram and Bright had run off to the next house, holding hands.  
  
Closing the door quietly he dropped the bowl again. Wendell collapsed against the door sliding slowly down it, as the tears flowed freely from his eyes. Slowly crawling into a ball amongst the discarded candy he held himself as he sobbed.  
  
No one notices.  
  
No one cares. 


End file.
